Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

Having established himself in a number of Danish films, actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau made himself a known presence in America and abroad with both supporting and leading roles in high-profile projects....
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HBO
Often, Game of Thrones struggles with keeping its seasons balanced, which means that many of the episodes in between the major shocks can feel like filler. "Oathkeeper" should technically fall into that category, with the wheels for various plots being set in motion as the aftereffects of Joffrey's death ripple out across the Seven Kingdoms, but instead, it's the kind of tightly plotted episode that reminds viewers that sometimes, the political scheming is just as compelling and attention-grabbing as all of the bloodshed.
We do, however, begin "Oathkeeper" with some of that bloodshed, and the promise of much more to come, as Daenrys and her army finally take Mereen. Grey Worm convinces the slaves of the city to rise up against their masters, and rise up they do, fighting back against their captors until the city belongs to the Mother of Dragons. Still, there's something about the victory that feels a bit lackluster, as Dany's story has fallen into a rut of "travel to city, free slaves, repeat." Even her speech about answering injustice with justice feels like a pale imitation of one she's given so many times before. Her story is a difficult one, as it's just as inconsistent, plot-wise in the books, but it seems like show's decision to make up for that by having her capture and free city after city might not be the best solution anymore. She has her army, she has a population of dedicated servants, and she's proven herself a force to be reckoned with. It might finally be time for her to put that army to use.
Meanwhile, on the complete other side of the world, Jon Snow is also raising an army to march on Craster's Keep. Sure, it's a small, rag-tag army made up of a few Brothers who volunteered for the job, but it's an army nonetheless, and Jon's got enough conviction to more than make up for what he lacks in men. He's still struggling against the authority of the Nightswatch, as nobody seems to take the threat of a Wildling invasion seriously, but his time North of the Wall has helped Jon grow into his own confidence and connect more with his brothers — which is good, considering how heavily it's hinted that he might soon be Lord Commander.
But first, there's the issue of Karl and the rest of the Mutineers to deal with. Since we've last see him, Burn Gorman's former Brother has become truly terrifying, slurping wine out of a skull and abusing the many wives of Craster. It's an uncomfortable sequence that seems to drag on for far too long, one that seems to revel in its twistedness just for the sake of reminding viewers how messed up the show can get. And while it does achieve that goal, it's even more disturbing in the aftermath of Jaime and Cersei's encounter last week, which isn't mentioned at all in "Oathkeeper" (but we'll get to that in a moment). Though Gorman throws himself into the role in a creepily entertaining way, drawing out every curse and swanning about like the most horrifying king imaginable, it's not until Bran, Jojen and Meera are captured that his scenes gain some purpose.
Their capture, with Jon Snow hurtling his way North to meet them, was written specifically for the show, which makes the whole thing a lot more exciting. It's one of the few instances where fans who have and have not read the books are on the same page, and with a character like Karl involved, it's truly impossible to predict what will happen next. Although, with Locke tagging along on Jon's mission, a happy reunion between brothers doesn't seem to be in the cards.
The siblings in King's Landing also seem to be headed for trouble, as Jaime bounces between his brother and sister, struggling with choosing which oaths to honor and which to disregard. It's a strange episode in the wake of last week, one that would otherwise seem to mark Jaime's redemption as a character, but instead just seems to highlight the jarring differences in the way Jaime is handled from episode to episode. There is no mention of what happened in the sept, although Cersei doesn't seem to have any affection left for her brother, who still refuses to prove that his loyalty by killing Tyrion and Sansa. Lena Headey plays every drunken, bitter moment perfectly, and its clear that something in their relationship is broken beyond repair, but it's disappointing to have her verbal attacks be the only hint we get at the aftermath of Jaime's assault.
It seems that the last episode was intended to be a way to balance out the goodness that Jaime showcases this week, but if that's the case, it's a clumsy and ineffective way to mess up Jaime's redemption arc. Becuase he does redeem himself otherwise, promising to help Tyrion as much as he can without setting him free and sending Brienne off to honor their vow to Catelyn Stark. These last few episodes really do show how much Game of Thrones has come to rely on Tyrion and Peter Dinklage, as his back and forth with Nikolaj Coster-Waldau was the highlight of "Oathkeeper." Tyrion is at his best when he's scheming, and so keeping him locked away deprives the show of those brilliant moments, although Bronn's "real talk" does help to make up for it somewhat.
As does the idea of Brienne and Pod hitting the road together. Brienne's scenes with Jaime were genuinely moving — even if I'm a little conflicted about them, considering recent events — but it's clear these two care about each other immensely, and seeing Jaime treat Brienne like the knight she should be was touching. Sending her off to honor her vows to Catelyn is an important development, as it shows that Jaime understands Brienne enough to know how important keeping her word is, as well as signalling that there is something broken between him and Cersei. Jaime's honor has become more important to him as of late, and losing his hand seems to have made his earlier sacrifice of honor seem less important by comparision. Brienne is the character who best represents traditional chivalric values on Game of Thrones, it's appropriate that he sends the most honorable person he knows off to attempt to regain a tiny bit of his own.
It also hopefully means that we will get some wonderful scenes between two of the show's best characters, Brienne and Pod, as they travel the King's Road together. If the writers want to drop any one of their plots in favor of a road trip storyline with these two, I would be completely okay with that.
Meanwhile, the show finally reveals the people behind Joffrey's poisoning: Petyr Baelish, who is currently heading off to the Vale with Sansa, and Lady Olenna, who is high-tailing it back to Highgarden. Both these scenes are a delight, as truly, few people know how to play the game better than Olenna and Petyr. He and Sansa have a wonderful bit of banter where he reveals how she was unwittingly implicated in the plot, and Sansa quickly starts putting the pieces together as to how he murdered Joffrey, although she's unable to read him well enough to determine why. That's what makes Petyr, as creepy and traitorous as he is, such a great character, becuase with so many alliances and possible motivations, it's always difficult to figure out what he's going to do next.
Margaery, however, needs things spelled out to her a little more clearly, which is a bit surprising, considering how adept she's proven herself to be a politics and scheming. If we had any doubts that Olenna pulled off the crime of the year, they're dispelled the second she fiddles with her granddaughter's necklace while convincing her to "do what needs to be done." And what needs to be done, apparently, is to start winning over Tommen as soon as possible. The scene between him and Margaery in his room is a wonderful study in manipulation - she has, after all, proved time and again that she knows how to make those Baratheon boys putty in her hand — but it's an incredibly uncomfortable scene to watch, as Dean-Charles Chapman looks about 12 next to Natalie Dormer, so their interactions have an additional layer of creepiness to them.
As far as "filler" episodes go, "Oathbreaker" is a great example of how to find the right combination of shock, suspense and exposition to tide us over until the real action kicks off in the upcoming weeks, even if we do feel the need to take several showers after watching it. That one-two-three punch of Petyr, Margaery and Karl creepiness is enough to haunt even the heartiest of fans.
Episode grade: B, or two scavenging Ser Pounces. Ser Pounce truly is the Game of Thrones equivalent of Lil Sebastian, and we hope he is held in the same esteem.
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HBO
Adapting a best-selling book series into a television show is always an ambitious undertaking, but re-working George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire might be the most ambitious of them all. Between condensing thousands and thousands of pages into hour-long episodes, placating the die-hard fans, and attempting to attract new viewers to a complicated medieval political fantasy, it wasn’t easy for David Benioff and D.B. Weiss to turn the novels into the juggernaut that is Game of Thrones. But the road from book to television isn't always a smooth one, and for every change that improves the stories or helps translate them well to a different medium, there are plenty of adjustments that upset fans.
The most recent episode, "Breaker of Chains," featured one such change when a sex scene between Jaime and Cersei was turned into a rape scene, one which the episode abruptly cut away from and didn't address any further. Both fans who have and have yet to read the books were shocked and upset by the change, which brought to light all of the significant changes that Benioff and Weiss have made to the source material in the process of making it HBO's tentpole series. We've taken a look at the best and worst changes that Game of Thrones has made so that show runners and writers everywhere can pick up a few tricks while learning from their worst mistakes.
DO: Streamline Exposition When it comes to establishing important characterization and world-building elements, books have it easy. But television doesn’t afford the luxury of an internal monologue or switching points of view, and instead has to convey chapters of background information without boring the audience to tears. Game of Thrones has found that the best way to do this is to strip the story down to its essential points, and jump back and forth between characters throughout the episode so that the audience gets what they need to understand what’s going on without the scenes dragging too long. Whenever you think there’s too much politicking in dark rooms, just remember those scenes are five times longer and more convoluted in the novels. Be thankful.
DON’T: Rely on "Sexposition" Instead Yes, Littlefinger’s monologues about how he plans to undermine everyone in the kingdom and seize power for himself are pretty boring. But the way to jazz them up isn’t to set the whole scene in a brothel and have naked women cavort behind him. And even if that does work for a particular scene, don’t continue to repeat this trope over and over again until the women are basically set dressing for the male characters’ existential crisis. It’s a lazy, pandering way to express information that the writers themselves find boring, but can’t leave out because it serves a purpose later on in the episode. Television is a creative medium – why not try coming up with a creative way of explaining things instead?
DO: Add or Conflate Characters... Do you have a tricky bit of backstory that you need to express to the audience without subjecting them to another rambling speech? Add a character to act out that information or pass it along to someone else. Do you have six different characters that all serve similar purposes but only room for one of them? Combine them into one person. Do you want to flesh out a character so they better express a theme or help set certain events into motion? Combine them, add a new one, or just give a larger character some of the qualities of a minor one. Why else do you think Podrick, Shae, Gendry and Talisa got so much screen time?
DON’T: Do It Just to Kill Them OffOh Ros, they did you so wrong. The red-headed prostitute who appeared everywhere was an original character who got to travel from Winterfell to King’s Landing and spied for every side. Unfortunately, just as she was getting a legitimate storyline and becoming an interesting character, she was murdered by Joffrey, presumably as an example of how horrible he was. You know, because nothing else he ever did expressed that. Or what about Talisa, who was invented for the show and made into a major character so that we could learn more about the war from Robb’s perspective, only for her and her unborn child to be brutally stabbed through the stomach. You know, because the Red Wedding wasn’t graphic or violent enough.
DO: Embrace Your Twisted Source Material Game of Thrones wouldn’t be the insane show that we know and love without embracing all of the weird, crazy things that happen in the book: a priestess giving birth to a shadow demon and ordering it to kill the king, two gruesome and deadly weddings, a small child being tossed out the window after catching the queen and her brother in a compromising situation. And those are just the ones we can name off the top of our heads. Embrace the strange, bloody things that everyone loves about the books. Keeping in the craziest, most iconic moments allow Game of Thrones to stay true to its source material while simultaneously pleasing new and old fans.
DON’T: Value Shock Over Plot Game of Thrones is the bloodiest, most violent show on television, but it’s when the show decides to make things unnecessarily graphic that fans usually get upset. The long-winded descriptions of feasts that fill Martin’s writing are replaced with one sex scene after another. Characters who made it out of traumatic events alive – or were hinted at escaping – are killed in an elaborate, graphic fashion. Consensual sex scenes or ones where consent is somewhat ambiguous are re-worked into explicit rape scenes for the screen, and then never touched on again. The novels are plenty twisted and dark; if you don’t have a better reason to make things worse than “It’ll get people’s attention,” you should probably leave it as is.
DO: Feature Multiple Characters and Plots A Song of Ice and Fire gives many characters the opportunity to explain things from their perspective, which allows Martin to explore their inner lives and how they react to different events while also incorporating as many plots and characters as possible. It’s a great way to learn more about these characters, but it also means the reader needs to suffer through the same information from seven different points of view. The show is able to get around that by jumping back and forth between characters at crucial moments, so that instead of making the audience endure a long conversation about someone’s death, we can jump straight into them plotting what to do about it, effectively cutting out fifty pages of narration every time.
DON’T: Feel Obligated to Check In With Them Not every storyline moves at the same pace. We don’t need to spend ten minutes every week with a group if they’re just going to be plodding along, discussing the same vague warnings about trouble coming. The whole point of the show is that we don’t have to slog through all of this talking and walking and can instead jump straight to the good stuff. Just save the check in for when something’s going on. There’s more than enough material to fill in. Come on, have you seen the size of those books?
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Supermodel Kate Upton's spanking scene in her new film The Other Woman was cut - because she didn't like the idea of having to beat her co-star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau on camera. The Sports Illustrated Swimwear Issue beauty and the Game of Thrones star play lovers in the new comedy and one intimate scene called on her to whip the actor - and he insisted she didn't hold back.
She tells WENN, "I said I didn't feel comfortable with the scene, but somebody (Coster-Waldau) said that he was totally down for the scene."
He adds, "Absolutely. I was fine with it. I thought she did a terrific job. I've never seen colours that beautiful on my a** before. But it never made the cut... It didn't hurt that much; well it did when she hit me. Kate did exactly what she was told to do and she did it full on."
Saucy Upton responds, "I'm a horseback rider. I know how to use a whip!"

Actress Leslie Mann was so excited to make-out with The Other Woman co-star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau she broke out in hives during their first kissing scenes. The This Is 40 star thought nothing of her husband, writer/director Judd Apatow, as she prepared to lock lips with "the hot guy from Game of Thrones", but it wasn't quite the sexy encounter she had hoped it would be.
Mann tells WENN, "I've been married for 17 years, so I was like, 'Yes!' You know how actors say, 'It's really technical and the sex scenes are so technical, it's like work?' I'm like, 'That's bulls**t!' So we did the kissing scene and he's got the scruff (unshaved look) and I broke out into full hives!
"They thought maybe it was his aftershave, so we did it again and I broke out in hives again! I was so bummed! But I got the job done because I'm a professional."

"I was in the gym in the shower and the guy next to me started saying, 'What the hell are you doing here?' Then he started having a conversation about Game of Thrones. I was trying to be polite, but at the same time, I was like, 'Can we do this after - when we're a little more dressed?'" Game Of Thrones star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau felt uncomfortable discussing his role as Jamie Lannister with a fan while they were in the nude.

HBO
It’s hard to recover from the Red Wedding. Not just for the characters, who we join at the start of Season 4 still in a state of shock, but for Game of Thrones as well, which would probably explain why the writers decided to kick off the new season with an episode of pure exposition.
That’s not to say that “Two Swords” isn’t good. Despite being primarily designed to introduce the characters and conflicts that the season will center around, it still manages to keep your attention, moving quickly from Lannister to Stark to Targaryen, establishing where the characters are and where they’re going, and only occasionally dragging. As someone who has always found the novels’ long passages of clunky exposition a slog to get through, it’s always a pleasant surprise to find the show moving through those scenes with efficiency. The episode never spends enough time with any single person long enough to explore any of their issues too deeply, but that also means that we don’t get bored of them, either.
If anyone feels like a central character in “Two Swords” it’s Jaime Lannister, who, along with his brother, appears to be the focal point of the Lannister stories this year. Newly returned after being captured – which Joffrey and Cersei seem to believe was intentional on his part, a development that is played hilariously by Jack Gleeson, Lena Headey, and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau – and without his sword hand, Jaime is determined to retain his position in the Kingsguard and return to his normal life. Coster-Waldau carries the episode well, playing up Jaime’s desire for honor and dignity now that he’s lost such an integral part of himself.
It’s not the first time that Jamie has had to deal with such open contempt and derision, but it is the first time that his own family has turned against him, leaving him without that extra layer of Lannister armor. Returning to the status quo, even if that means fighting with his left hand or reneging on his promise to Catelyn Stark, is clearly his way of coping with the blows he’s been dealt. But nobody else seems as willing to let him slip back into being the old Jaime. Placing Jaime squarely in between his old life and family and his new relationship with Brienne adds new layers to the character, and the constant references to his career as a knight seems designed for foreshadow a shift in his alliances.
Meanwhile, Tyrion is also stuck between two allegiances: his love of Shae and his promise to protect Sansa. It almost seems pointless to state that Peter Dinklage is a wonderful actor, and yet, as Tyrion bounces between the two women in his life, attempting to hold everything together so that he can hold onto his life, Dinklage hits every beat perfectly. However, the true highlights of the episode for Tyrion are his interactions with Oberyn Martell, the Dornish Prince who has come to King’s Landing for the royal wedding… and revenge. If Tyrion isn’t one step ahead of everyone at all times, he’s at least great at giving off the impression that he is, but he’s clearly floundering now.
He’s also met his match in Oberyn, who is introduced via one of Game of Thrones’ famous brothel-set expository scenes. Though I’m often wary of these sequences, which are usually just a blatant attempt to liven up a boring monologue, this one worked for me, establishing the Red Viper’s promiscuity, arrogance, and deadliness without feeling gratuitous. Pedro Pascal clearly enjoys playing Oberyn, as he hungrily chews the scenery in a confrontation with some minor Lannister cousins. Pascal makes for an excellent match for Dinklage, who also seems to find his job a great deal of fun. It’s going to be a pleasure watching these two verbally spar, so I’m hoping the inevitable comes later in the season, rather than sooner.
Tyrion’s other major challenge this year is looking after Sansa, who is in a deep state of grief over the death of her mother and brother. Sophie Turner plays her devastation beautifully, as if this major, tragic loss is the final piece needed to shut Sansa down completely. After three seasons of torture, though, it does seem as if things might be looking up, with Ser Dontos gifting her an amethyst necklace as thanks for sparing his life. Watching Turner’s face slowly light up at this tiny act of kindness is almost as heartbreaking as watching her stoically starve herself at breakfast, and is the clearest sign of the toll this whole ordeal has taken on her. Her sister Arya, however, seems to be in slightly better spirits, riding down the Kings Road with the Sandor Clegane like some kind of awkward medieval Bonnie and Clyde. She’s reacting to tragedy in a much different way than Sansa, choosing to lash out instead of retreating inward, and as she smugly kills a man in an act of revenge, she couldn’t be farther away from the little girl who left Winterfell.
Of course, as this is Game of Thrones, there are still a million other plots and characters left to check in with, but “Two Swords” doesn’t pay them much attention, and that's where the episode starts to drag. Daenerys is still trudging through the desert, albeit with an army this time. The Wildlings are still prepping to take charge the wall. And Jon Snow will get to keep his head for another day. Their scenes all feel as if they’re meant to be cursory reminders of the other arcs the show is supporting, and once we’ve checked in with them, they’re mostly ignored until a later date. It’s this dismissive nature that ironically makes these brief scenes feel longer than the ones in King’s Landing. Game of Thrones benefits greatly from pitting the characters against each other, and watching Lannisters bicker for days on end or seeing blood spurt from someone’s wrist tends to make up for any lags in the plot. With Danaerys, Ygritte, and Jon so isolated from the rest of the world, something needs to happen soon in order to keep us invested, or else the show might be better off picking up one of the other plot threads that were left dangling at the end of Season 3. It’s not like there isn’t plenty of story to go around.
All in all, though, the most disappointing part of the episode was that Jaime never slapped Joffrey across the face with his ornate gold hand. Just because you can’t swordfight with it doesn’t mean you can’t put it to good use, right?
Episode rating: B+, or three swordfighting Aryas.
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Here are this week's highlights from VH1, Celebuzz, Flavorwire, and Hollywood.com.
Check out the childhood homes of famous musicians. From Elvis' tiny home to Madonna's suburban origins, see the fascinating gallery at Flavorwire.
See the Game of Thrones cast at its most adorable. Because after lots of death and scheming, who wouldn't want some fun in the sun? Find out more about their beach day at Celebuzz.
No one is spared! Let's judge the fashion of the Kids' Choice Awards. And there were some real atrocities. Check out the gallery at VH1 Celebrity.
Find out why Rihanna is the sexiest woman in the world. Hint: it's all about confidence. Read the case for Rihanna at Hollywood.com.
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Actor Gerard Butler helped to surprise a bride-to-be by crashing her bachelorette party in Sydney, Australia over the weekend (15-16Mar14). Maja Nogic was celebrating her impending nuptials on Friday (14Mar14) when the 300 star climbed aboard a yacht she had rented for the party.
Her pal Draana Ogorelica says, "We thought it was a stripper, because it was a hen's party. But then we saw (Gerard) standing on the boat.
"We all just started screaming. His accent, oh my goodness, it was so beautiful. You couldn't understand him half the time, but you didn't care because it was just gorgeous. (He said to us), 'Is this a hen's party? Can I join? We're going to dance a little bit, drink a little bit'."
The actor reportedly told the bride-to-be that her future husband was "a really lucky guy".
Photos of the hunk and the girls, taken by Ogorelica, have hit the Internet.
Butler is in Sydney preparing to start work on new movie Gods of Egypt, which also features Geoffrey Rush and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau.
Reports suggest he had hired the boat to look at properties on Rushcutter’s Bay and was just wrapping up his house hunt as the hen party began.

"There are some very intense fans. We did a premiere last year in Seattle, and I got a taste of it. It was a little claustrophobic. All these people wanting to take a picture with me. One guy was like, 'Do you mind if I take a picture of your shoe? I have a thing with shoes.'" Game Of Thrones actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau remembers a bizarre fan encounter.

Game Of Thrones star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau had a little explaining to do when his wife of 15 years started receiving notes about her husband's rumoured affair with Cameron Diaz. The two stars play lovers in new film The Other Woman and when Diaz started cooing about her co-star in interviews last year (13), fans back home in the actor's native Denmark started assuming he was cheating on his wife Nukaaka, a former Miss Greenland, and they wanted to let her know.
Coster-Waldau tells Details magazine, "(They wrote notes that read): 'You should know that your husband is cheating on you with Cameron Diaz. Cameron Diaz is not to be trusted'. My wife just laughed, but still..."
Diaz's public remarks about the Dane didn't help matters. She said of Coster-Waldau, "Men aspire to be like him. Women aspire to, well, find a man like him."

Summary

Having established himself in a number of Danish films, actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau made himself a known presence in America and abroad with both supporting and leading roles in high-profile projects. After getting his feet wet in international waters with the British-made World War II drama "Bent" (1997), Coster-Waldau was cast by Ridley Scott to participate in the director's acclaimed war thriller "Black Hawk Down" (2001). He subsequently had turns in the action thriller "My Name is Modesty" (2004) and the romantic comedy "Wimbledon" (2004), before reuniting with Scott for the less well-received medieval adventure "Kingdom of Heaven" (2005). Coster-Waldau made a brief, but memorable splash playing a cop trapped on Earth as an immortal on the short-lived series "New Amsterdam" (Fox, 2008), before joining the acclaimed cast of the epic medieval drama, "Game of Thrones" (HBO, 2011- ), which allowed him to display his considerable talents to a wider audience.